Pitch a Story

Pride Source Media is a Michigan-based multi-tiered media company with two primary publishing assets: Pride Source’s publications (Between The Lines Newspaper, Pride Source Magazine, Pride Source Yellow Pages, which are print products, as well as our digital platform, Pridesource.com) and Q Syndicate (the national LGBTQ+ wire service for regional LGBTQ+ press).

We cover a wide range of topics of interest to LGBTQ+ and ally readers: LGBTQ+ politics, relationships and weddings, sex, health, home, LGBTQ+ people and their pets, pop culture and celebrities, and other queer-centric trends. We publish short and long features, profiles, Q&As, essays, opinion pieces, listicles and video interviews. Though our primary focus is on Southeast Michigan, we are open to national stories, particularly national stories with a Michigan spin.

What to pitch: We are interested in telling stories of survival and perseverance that reflect our tenacious LGBTQ+ community by highlighting stories of intersectionality and the complexity of our identities. Know someone in the LGBTQ+ community who’s doing something important and trailblazing that no one is talking about but should be talking about? That’s a pitch. But we’re also interested in a variety of LGBTQ-focused storytelling: personal essays that dig deep into heavy (and not-so-heavy) queer topics, mainstream news stories with queer angles (ex. student debt forgiveness), investigative enterprise reporting, and profiles and Q&As with noteworthy people in the LGBTQ+ community.

Please keep these guidelines in mind:

Be specific: We’re far more likely to consider a pitch that doesn’t just tell us “this happened and I want to write about it,” or “I’m watching a show with a queer character and I want to write about it.” What about the thing or event or show, specifically, do you want to write about? Give us your focus, angle or argument and let us know what resources you plan on tapping into to tell your story: Who would you talk to for this piece? Are there specific experts you’d want to speak with? Or a certain demographic of people you’d be trying to connect with? Do you have a sense of how you’d reach them?

Be yourself and be original: Your pitch is a first impression. Show us your tone and your voice so we have an idea of who you are. And please do a Google search to see if your angle or focus has already been covered in other LGBTQ+ media or elsewhere. We want stories that will stand out among adjacent media outlets.

Show us your work: Include a short bio and a few published clips. If you're unpublished, share an example of your writing via a linked Google Doc, your personal blog, a Substack or any other medium that you feel exemplifies what you have to offer.

Lead time: 1-2 months; shorter if the pitch is timely

Pay rate: Columns/essays $100-$125; News features, other news/pop culture reporting $100-$250

Payment process: Submit an invoice to [email protected]. Payment on publication (online or print) unless otherwise arranged.

Submit pitches by email with the subject line PITCH: "Proposed Story Headline" to [email protected] and [email protected].

Any questions? Reach out anytime to Chris Azzopardi, Editorial Director: [email protected] or Sarah Bricker Hunt, Managing Editor: [email protected].

General inbox: [email protected]